Fayetteville Dance Company was established in 2018 by Owner and Artistic Director, Lauren Clemons. We are now going into our 8th season as 'FDC'. Our staff is passionate about providing technical dance and performance education to students across Northwest Arkansas. We offer both competitive and non-competitive dance experiences for ages 3 & up. Dancers have the opportunity to study Ballet, Pointe, Tap, Jazz, Lyrical, Contemporary, Hip-Hop, and Acrobatics.
Our instructors bring with them a lifelong love for dance. FDC staff is professional, hard-working, and talented. Each member of our team is passionate about the development of our students into incredible dancers and outstanding members of our community.
Lauren Clemons is the Owner and Artistic Director of Fayetteville Dance Company. Miss Lauren grew up dancing in Fayetteville and taught all throughout Northwest Arkansas before taking ownership of FDC. She took over FDC in 2018 with the goal of creating a space for people to express themselves through dance, gaining confidence in themselves along the way.
The dance studio is where Lauren has always felt most at home and she knew from a young age that she wanted to help recreate this feeling for others. Her passion for dance and teaching has allowed her to impact the lives of so many students across NWA. Lauren works hard to create an environment where both her students and staff thrive. Going into her 9th season as Owner and Director, she is looking forward to what this season brings!
Outside of the studio, Miss Lauren loves to spend time with her husband, Dillon, daughter Layla, and their 3 dogs - Luna, Lucious, and Bruno.
Kaylee Franklin is a Fayetteville native who grew up dancing, starting at a very young age and dancing all throughout highschool. Her time in the studio didn't end once she graduated highschool, when she transitioned from student to dance teacher!
Kaylee graduated from the University of Arkansas in 2021 with a Masters in the Art of Teaching, and has been a 3rd grade teacher the past 4 years. Now she is transitioning to putting all of her time and energy into FAYPAC & FDC. Dancing has always been a passion of Kaylee's, and she is excited for the opportunity to instill that same passion into her dancers.
Miss Carly was born in Atlanta, Georgia, but moved to Northwest Arkansas at the age of five and has always proudly called NWA home. Her love for dance began at just three years old and continued throughout her childhood, high school years, and into college.
While attending the University of Arkansas, Miss Carly was a proud member of the Razorback Pom Squad for four years, where she continued to grow as a dancer, performer, and leader.
Miss Carly has been teaching full-time at Fayetteville Dance Company for four seasons and is excited to begin her fifth! Teaching has always been a true passion of hers, and she loves having the opportunity to watch her students grow in confidence, technique, and their love for dance. She feels incredibly lucky to do what she loves every day and truly can’t imagine herself doing anything else!
Olivia began dancing at the age of 2 in Dallas, TX and started competing nationally at age 5. She is a proud graduate alum of Next Step Dance Performing Arts Center in Frisco, TX, where she trained under numerous nationally-renowned choreographers including Michelle Stafford, Jason Ambrose, Katelyn Harris, Malana Murphy, Nick Gomez, Nick Bass, Misha Gabriel, Joey Dowling, Martha Nichols, Lauren Adams, and Nick Dinicolangelo, among many others.
She began teaching her own choreography in high school, where she was the captain of the Hillcrest Panaders for two years. After graduating in 2017, Olivia went on to study business at the University of Arkansas, where she also joined the Razorback Dance Team, choreographing multiple collegiate routines during her four years there. She graduated in 2021, earning her bachelor’s degree in Business Management at the Sam M. Walton College of Business.
Olivia brings a passionate and excited energy to her classes, aiming to guide young artists as they discover their own strengths through discipline and creative exploration. She has worked with dancers of all ages/levels across Northwest Arkansas and the Dallas metroplex since 2013 and continues to strive for excellence in creativity, artistry, and technique.
Sydney is originally from Jonesboro, Arkansas and is a 2018 honor graduate of the Dobbins Conservatory at Southeast Missouri State University, where she earned her BFA in Dance. Following graduation, she joined the staff of Fayetteville Dance Company for its inaugural season.
Sydney has previously danced professionally with Northwest Arkansas Ballet Theater and has trained with Ballet Chicago and Ballet Memphis. This year marks her 17th year teaching dance and her 9th season with Fayetteville Dance Company.
Outside of the studio, Sydney enjoys attending Razorback sporting events, cheering on the Chiefs, and spending time with her husband, Kenton, their daughter, Sunny, and their two dogs, Kona and Cashew.
Sydney’s favorite part of teaching is watching her students grow year after year, both as dancers and as individuals, and helping them discover new reasons to love dance.
Zoe was born in Austin, Texas but grew up in Sydney Australia. She began dancing at age eleven at Lorrynne school dance before training at Industry Performing Arts in both classical and contemporary. After graduating high school, she studied ballet and contemporary full time at Sydney College of Dance where she gained her Diploma of Dance. She continued her training at Tanya Pearson Academy where she was given multiple performance opportunities including Sean Lake Act Two at Sydney International Ballet Gala. She has also completed all of her Royal Academy of Dance exams and won the Sydney Eisteddfod open age contemporary section in 2022. In 2023 she moved to California to join State Street Ballet as a trainee and was soon after selected to perform and later tour Giselle with the company. Since 2024 she has been a company dancer with NWA Ballet Theatre where she has had the opportunity to perform multiple soloist roles including Grisi Variation from Pas de Quarte, Lead Marzipan and will be performing Snow Queen this Nutcracker season. She is very excited to be teaching at FDC for a third year!
Alex began dancing at the age of 3 and has grown up at Fayetteville Dance Company. She started competing with FDC in 2018 and was also a member of the FHS dance team for 4 years. Alex has had the opportunity to work with UDA for the past 2 years, continuing to grow her experience and knowledge within the dance industry. After graduating high school, she officially joined the FDC staff and is now in her second season. Alex is currently a sophomore at the University of Arkansas studying Food, Nutrition, and Health. She continues to dance and train as much as she can and frequently travels to New York to take classes and learn from dancers and choreographers from across the industry. FDC has been a second family to Alex for as long as she can remember, and she loves being part of a studio that encourages its dancers to grow while creating a positive and supportive environment.
Jules has been dancing since the age of 3 and has been a student at Fayetteville Dance Company since the age of 10. She graduated from Fayetteville High School, where she was a member of the Varsity Dance Team. Jules is now a sophomore at the University of Arkansas, majoring in Journalism Ad PR.
She loves traveling to New York City and expanding her dance knowledge by taking classes from a variety of choreographers. She believes every opportunity to dance is an opportunity to learn and grow! For the past two years, Jules has also been a member of the UDA staff, traveling and teaching dance camps throughout the summer.
Jules absolutely adores everything FDC, FayPAC, and Prep have to offer. One of her favorite parts of teaching is watching the younger generation grow, learn, and develop their own love for dance.